Ford Teams Up With BASF to Cut Emissions From Ford Fusion Production

Ford is focusing on making its new lineup of vehicles greener than ever before – the automaker has already revealed that the 2013 Fusion’s interior is made of recycled bottles and cotton, and now Ford has announced that it’s found a new plastic that reduces emissions while cutting production costs. Using a new resin from BASF Corporation, Ford has developed a window switch that cuts both carbon dioxide and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions that are normally produced during production.

Most of us probably don’t pay that much attention to the window switch in a car, but Ford has teamed up with materials supplier BASF for an all-new resin that helps reduce costs and the environmental impact during production of the 2013 Ford Fusion. Traditionally molded plastic pieces like a window switch are painted with a high-gloss finish to improve their durability, but the new resin from BASF Corporation allows Ford to skip the clear-coat painting process.

“We need to leave no stone unturned in our continuous quest to make auto manufacturing as environmentally friendly as possible,” says Robert Bedard, Body Interior Core Engineer for Ford. “This improved resin saves Ford significant dollars, but it also helps eliminate VOC from being released into the atmosphere, since the application of clear-coat paint is no longer required.